Obedience / Attention

#1 11-03-11, 05:23 PM

Hello all, I am new to the forum and as a GSD owner.

I am firstly looking for some advice, I would ideally like a well trained obedient dog as an end result and I understand that a lot of hard work is needed and I am ready to put in the effort.

My new dog 'Cassie' is a rescue dog, she is a 10 month old bitch and I have had her now for one month, she has settled in very well to her new home and to my other dog and cat.

My other dog is a family pet and wasn't trained all that well as a pup, as such she has attention issues or as we call it 'selective hearing'.

Cassie shows a lot more promise in that department and I was wondering what are the best ways of encouraging this obedient behaviour and how do I hold her attention (as in get her to look at me).

I have seen videos of GSD owners walking with their dogs to heel and the dogs are staring up at their face. I would like this, what is the best way of going about it.

I am considering clicker training and the use of treats as a reward, my only worry with this is how to I get her to keep performing the actions when there are no more treats on offer? Is it best to not even start this training and just use positive reinforcement or is there another training method that suits GSD better.

Any help for anyone would be much appreciated.

Kind Regards,

Richard

Stuart · #2 11-03-11, 06:27 PM

Welcome to the forum Richard,
What you are talking about ,... walking the way you discribe is quiet advanced training, certainly not beyond your ability, but maybe a second phase to first getting to walk your dog close by your side,... most people are happy to get to that stage

My dogs dont look at me in the way I think you are talking about, but if you wanted to attemp this, then you are going to need the dogs most favorate thing,..if it is a treat, then you need to hold that treat close to your upper chest, it is not you the dog is looking at but the treat, it will need lots of encouragement on your part to keep the dogs attention on you/treat while walking.

Do this for short distances and reward with what the dog was looking at,....I am sure there might be more to it than that, but that is the start,......... good luck

#3 11-03-11, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuart

Welcome to the forum Richard,
What you are talking about ,... walking the way you discribe is quiet advanced training, certainly not beyond your ability, but maybe a second phase to first getting to walk your dog close by your side,... most people are happy to get to that stage

My dogs dont look at me in the way I think you are talking about, but if you wanted to attemp this, then you are going to need the dogs most favorate thing,..if it is a treat, then you need to hold that treat close to your upper chest, it is not you the dog is looking at but the treat, it will need lots of encouragement on your part to keep the dogs attention on you/treat while walking.

Do this for short distances and reward with what the dog was looking at,....I am sure there might be more to it than that, but that is the start,......... good luck

Totally agree with Stuart

We do the watch command at training, and to start off we use lots of treats.
Have the dog infront of you to start with hold a high value treat up infront of your face and give the command watch or whatever you want to use.
As soon as she does reward with the treat and only when she watches you

Before you put a command in place just hold the treat to your face when she looks at you reward using lots of praise, after about 10 times try putting the command to it.
Troys command is watch, Kaiser's is Fuss(german)
Kaiser is 2 and I can get him to watch me for about a min in a static position either infront or at my side.
Now walking with them watching you takkes a lot more time, and trust!
The dog has to completely trust you before they will watch you whilst at heel at walking, even now ive only managed about 10 foot with Kaiser and 20 with Troy

nisbreagha · #4 11-03-11, 07:50 PM

In short your best shot at achieving this kind of obedience is to attend obedience classes and have a trainer help you understand your dog as it's you who must learn how to achieve this kind of bond with your dog and how to correctly command your dog to achieve this. As a trainer I work my GSDs to walk to heel in the manner you are describing in both an indoor setting and during walks, it has taken me some time to achieve this and it is only required IMO when doing obedience showing and comps as it is not practical on daily walks unless it's only for short spells when you need the dogs attention away from something and in those kind of situations I much prefer to stop and down my dogs and get them to watch me until the disraction/situation has passed.

ClaireandDaisy · #5 12-03-11, 08:29 AM

I personally would rather the dog looked where he was going. I don`t think you should be asking for the bent head unless you are in competition obedience.
Loose lead walking is an art in itself. The dog should be relaxed, responsive and alert. Not glued obessively to the owners face. JMO.

#6 12-03-11, 10:59 AM

Thank you to everyone who has replied, I don't really intend on doing any competitions, however I would like to do some of the same things just at home and out in the garden. They seem a great way to bond with my GSD and give her the mental and physical stimulation that she deserves.

Does anyone have an opinion on clicker training? Is it a good training tool or should my praise be enough?

Any comments greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Richard

hippychickuk · #7 12-03-11, 12:11 PM

welcome to the forum

i use clicker training with pappy, i only use it to get him to come to me on walks, (as well as the command 'pappy come here'.) i dont need to use it as much now. but before i got the clicker i was having trouble with recall.as soon as i got him used to the sound of it, i find it was the best thing i ever brought. and his recall is excellent. the only time it doesnt work as well, is when there are other dogs around. and then he does the 'selective hearing thing'

LOVEGSD · #8 13-03-11, 09:51 AM

Hello and welcome to the forum, you need to start with basic obedience and get a good bond with your dog....x

#9 13-03-11, 03:40 PM

Thanks for the advice. What sort of things would be included under basic obedience?

Another quick question for you all, how long should our training sessions be? At the moment I am doing about a 10 minute session followed by some play time. Doing about 2 training sessions a day.

Is this a good regime? Is it too much or could I do more?

Sorry for all the questions, just wanting as much input as possible so I get it right.

Thanks again,

Richard

LOVEGSD · #10 14-03-11, 11:24 AM

Never apologise for questions, no-one is ever bothered by how many you ask on here

It's good to do short bursts of training then follow it with a play session, keeps them interested so I think you're doing just fine, you can always do more and watch to see how much she's listening and if you can see her drifting off, end it but always end on a positive.

Basic obedience would be sit/down/stay/come and recall.....I'm sure if anyone can think of anything else they'll say....sorry just thought you need to crack the walking to heel without pulling

xx